The Lively Apartments — Local services in Jersey City

This is my attempt at an objective review to help those who are considering the Lively as their new home. My two largest complaints driving this rating are the issues in the building and our latest lease renewal process.

Building Issues There have been numerous issues over the 11 months that we have lived at the Lively. I listed these at the end of the review to help put the issues into perspective. These can be summarized into elevator issues and plumbing issues. The elevators are frequently out of service and, per management, this is the result of the elevator's safety features. The "elevators have several safety features, something as simple as holding the elevator door too long or heavy wind in the shaft will trigger the safety system and cause the elevator to go out of service." When the elevators are working, one elevator is used daily to collect trash and recycling for all the floors. In theory this wouldn't be an inconvenience since this occurs during normal business hours, however, since there is a large population of people who are working from home, this remains a daily inconvenience. The same two elevators that are used for daily passenger traffic are also used for move-ins, move-outs, and maintenance requests so unless you live on the 2nd or 3rd floors its pretty frequent to wait for the one salvageable elevator that day. The plumbing issues are generally concerning, per management, they are "due to defective plumbing fittings that are behind walls and not visible or detectable before their failure." In response to the multiple days of being without water, management issued all tenants a $100 credit, which is a nice gesture but a drop in the bucket when the average monthly rent is anywhere from 30-40 times that. See the end of the review for an 11 month issues log to gauge frequency of these issues. Historical data tends to be the best for forecasting future events.

Lease Renewals We received our lease renewal noting that the new monthly rate was a 26.5% increase on our net effective rent and a 7% increase on the gross rent. When trying to talk to management about the new lease terms it took 2 weeks for them to respond in which they came back and basically said it is what it is and they weren't willing to make any changes. We also asked if we could get an 18-month lease instead of a 12-month lease to avoid moving in the winter months which would generally benefit both parties so that management wouldn't have excess inventory in the winter months but they were also unwilling to offer us an 18-month lease because of the other lease expirations that they have coming up in the summer months. This process has made it is very clear to us that management cares about their bottom line as opposed to working with their tenants.

Issues Log Date Issue 3/1/2021 Elevator #2 down 3/30/2021 Elevator #1 and #2 warranty service 3/30/2021 Elevator #1 down 3/31/2021 Elevator #1 down 5/6/2021 Elevator #1 re-varnishing 5/19/2021 Fire Alarm - False Alarm 5/21/2021 Water Shutoff - Leak 6/1/2021 Elevator #1 down 6/8/2021 Elevator #1 down 5/26/2021 Fire Alarm - False Alarm 6/29/2021 Elevator #1 down 7/1/2021 Elevator #2 down 7/2/2021 Elevator #2 down 7/16/2021 Elevator #2 down 7/17/2021 Elevator #2 down 7/18/2021 Elevator #2 down 7/19/2021 Elevator #2 down 8/3/2021 Water Shutoff - Leak 8/4/2021 Water Shutoff - Leak 8/5/2021 Water Shutoff - Leak 9/8/2021 Water Shutoff - Leak 9/9/2021 Water Shutoff - Leak 9/21/2021 Elevator #1 & #2 maintenance 10/4/2021 Elevator #1 down 10/6/2021 Elevator #1 & #2 inspection 10/16/2021 Elevator #1 down 11/22/2021 Elevator #1 down 12/5/2021 Water Shutoff - Leak 12/10/2021 Fire Alarm - False Alarm (1 hour - per the fire department, no resident fire safety manager on-site) 12/10/2021 Elevator #1 down 12/11/2021 Elevator #1 down 12/17/2021 Elevator #2 down 12/18/2021 Elevator #2 down 12/19/2021 Elevator #2...

When I first started renting my apartment at the Lively (starting early 2020), I was ok paying a premium because of how amazing the apartment and the amenities looked. I was hoping this would be the best living experience that my family and I would ever have. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. When I wrote my review back in March of 2020, I was on cloud9. The amenities alone made me feel like I was staying at a five-star hotel. Unfortunately, cloud9 lasted about a month. If you are considering making the Lively your new home, PLEASE DON"T.

I have never experienced water shutdowns and elevator outages at the incredible frequency they occur in this building. After living here for 18 months, it is clear that the tenant experience is not a priority for management, and decisions are made as such. Poor communication and avoidable inconveniences are regular, not something I expected moving here--especially considering it is a new building and the rent this building commands. Building-wide outages are handled casually and one-off requests are treated with an incredible lack of urgency. The exception to this is for issues that have little impact on the tenant experience; issues that tenants are not asking to be addressed like redoing the lobby floor and redoing the wall coverings in the amenity space--both were a major inconvenience for tenants.

LMC needs to reevaluate how they operate their buildings and who they hire for upkeep. I'd like to suggest starting with who you hire to manage the property. Regina has no regard for any of the tenants in the building and continues to act "shocked," that tenants are upset about not having water for 36 HOURS. I cannot wait for my lease to be up. It is so unfortunate because the building concierge service team is absolutely amazing and the only reason I look forward to walking into my building daily. Regina could learn a few things from that team.

UPDATE in response to management. It is Sunday, December 5th at 5:35pm going on 4 1/2 hours with NO WATER. Again, dealing with the same issue and the only solution from management "we've provided water bottles in the lobby." How about a place for us to actually use the restroom? How about using a different plumbing company since the last 5 times clearly hasn't worked out. Unfortunately, reaching out to Paul isn't something I need to do. Paul was not helpful to us during the pandemic so how would he be helpful to us during this 5th leak issue? LMC has no regard for any of their tenants. The only positive out of this was hiring Evan - and even that I think was outsourced so they can't take credit for that hire either. Please stop contacting me to contact YOUR OFFICE. Be proactive and reach out to your tenants directly. This is on...

The Lively is truly an amazing place to call home!

My boyfriend and I have lived in many luxury buildings from Boston, NYC to South Florida.. and The Lively is truly one of the classiest & most at home we've ever felt.

Just a few of shoutouts: Holly, Andrew, Evan, Jeanette, and sooo many wonderful people who work at the Lively have made us feel so welcome! Especially during this time. They are very Covid friendly!!! The building is super clean, dog friendly, and STUNNING.

Vibe of the Lively: Think Speakeasy, meets Industrial, and a hint of coastal Malibu at the coolest hotel in town. Class and sophistication. Cheers!

Your apartment is gorgeous too! They really didn't miss any details..if you like that industrial look... you'll be in heaven!!! Ask to look on higher floors they have exposed Concrete Ceilings!!! and if that's not your thing they have options without the concrete ceilings too. They have white and blue kitchens and even a grey kitchen!!! It's so dreamy! The architect and designers of this building in the Art district really brings the art into your apartments! Which I love as a fellow artist myself! The floors are great for dogs!!! No Scratching! They look so real (the wood floors) I actually thought they were real! I think they're the highest end luxury vinyl you can get.Very comfortable to walk on and waterproof too! I used to flip houses! This stuff is the most realistic hardwood vinyl flooring for apartments I ever seen!!! A++ I had to knock on it and see if it was real lol The Kitchen!!! Holy WOW! It looks like Marble or water caught in time! It's the most beautiful countertop/backsplash! Truly stunning combo!!! And such high end appliances!!! And they're sleek! What more can you ask for!!! The designer of this building nailed it!!! Oh and a Disposal!!! I mean what else can you ask for?! Just everything in this place is perfect. The amenities, the location, apartments, etc.

Thank you Lively Staff for making my little family feel SO welcome! Thank you, thank you, Thank you! I hope this review brings smiles to your faces too cause you guys are seriously amazing!!! And we'll bring down Teddy soon to say hello! He says " I ruvvv rooo" and probably wants a treat hehe

If you're hesitating between here and another building I mean hope my review helped lol :)

P.S. your neighbors are friendly too! And so are the very cute dogs!!! LOTS...